Case Number 18587: Small Claims Court

BELIEVE: THE EDDIE IZZARD STORY

The Charge

"I am a professional transvestite, so I can run about in heels and not
fall over. Cause if a woman falls over wearing heels, that's embarrassing. But
if a bloke falls over wearing heels, you have to kill yourself. It's the end of
your life. I'm an action transvestite really, so it's running, jumping, climbing
trees...putting on make-up when you're up there!"

Opening Statement

That's Eddie Izzard, a comedian of extraordinary talent and humor.
Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story is, well, his story; his entire story, up
to now anyways, from his birth in Yemen through his "Sexie" tour.
Sarah Townsend (Diva 51) writer and former lover of Mr. Izzard, directs
this biography in a very competent and thorough fashion. It does, however lead
one to wonder what the purpose is for such a retrospective to be released now at
a time when Eddie is just starting to hit his stride, not only as a stand up
comic but also as an actor. Is this a marketing ploy for an upcoming movie or
comedy tour? Or is this something deeper, a psychological release for the
moviemaker or for the man himself? Also, and equally as important, does the
history Sarah has with Eddie put her too close to her documentary's subject to
be objective?

The Evidence

In this film there are two interwoven shorelines. The first begins in 2000
when Mr. Izzard was charged with fraud. People going to his shows were treated
to jokes that were also told on his previous gigs. The BBC news show who
broadcast this story claimed that people paying to see him were getting gypped
since they could hear the same jokes if they bought Eddie's DVDs. He took this
very much to heart and stopped doing live performances for 3 years. When he
finally started his next tour, he began with a very, very rough draft of what
his jokes were going to be. So much so, that he brought out with him onstage
sheets of papers with jokes scrawled on them. Then he tried them out on each
audience, refining the whole set all the way through till his final show in
Wembley Stadium. This part of the film turned out to be very tedious with long
stretches showing Eddie sitting in his dressing room, staring at papers and
furiously scribbling joke ideas, trying to figure out his set before gigs. This
section also has some of the worse audio since it was poorly recorded in the
venues along the tour. The bad recordings along with his accent make most of
these bits not easily understandable.

The second storyline is Eddie's actual life story. He was born in Yemen; at
the age of 1 his family moved to Northern Ireland and lived there until he was
five. Through this portion of the film we see some of his jokes about his
childhood come to life (his father starting up a lawnmower --
"Run-un-un-un...No. Run-un-un-un...don't think so" -- as well as him
playing clarinet in band) in Monty Python-esque cut-out animations. It is
ridiculous how much of Eddie's comedy really comes from his life and was not
just made up. We see Eddie visiting his childhood home in Northern Ireland,
looking forlorn and nostalgic. Over this visit we are treated to a montage of
old pictures of Eddie and his family. These montages continue throughout the
movie and are actually very interesting to watch. They are the types of things
that true aficionados of Izzard's work, and of Izzard himself, will enjoy. It is
also around this time, when Eddie was 6, that his family moved to the south of
Wales and his mother died of cancer. This hit him very hard, changed him
profoundly, and is a line that continues throughout the film. When he was older,
he wanted to be an actor, but instead started in sketch comedy with a few
different troupes. When that did not work out, he moved on to street performing
and finally ended up in stand up comedy.

The video is great with the production budget up on the screen through every
animation and interview (George Clooney and Robin Williams both pop up to say a
few words). The home movies and footage filmed by fans, of course are of lesser
quality. The audio is simple 2 channel Dolby Digital which works just fine for
the purposes of this documentary. The extras include "The Infamous Wolves
Sketch," which is a sketch that I, someone who has all of Eddie's US
released DVDs, had never heard or seen before. It shows his brilliant humor even
from in an earlier time and foreshadows the great conedy he would later give
us.

Closing Statement

One of the last scenes in the film shows Eddie sitting on a chair talking to
someone off camera about his mother and a letter she'd written just before she
died. While reminiscing back on his life, he came to an epiphany that his
mother's death had really propelled him throughout his life and that many of the
things he'd done -- striving to entertain, coming out of the closet as a
transvestite -- had come from losing his mother at such a young age. This
realization felt very cathartic for him (the camera zooms in for a tighter close
up so we can really see the tears streaming down his face). Still, since it is
something that feels so personal, I wondered why this was released to the public
at large and why this seemed to be the theme for his biography. Perhaps it is
meant to help others in situations similar to his, however, this was not made
clear. It is intriguing, but in the end, unless you really love Eddie, it isn't
so entertaining. It feels like Sarah Townsend made this movie for Eddie and not
for us; we just happened to be able to buy it.

The Verdict

"Not guilty" for the Eddie Izzard enthusiast. "Possibly
lackluster" for all others.